booking specific times only

Question

I have done everything I can using the teams calendar booking tool, but it still isn't doing one final step. I hope you all can help me.

I want my clients to book in with me on weekdays at either 11:30 PM or 12:30 PM for one hour. I've blocked off all the other times on the calendar so only 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM shows as available. However the booking page then shows clients they can book at 11:30 or 12:00 or 12:30. I DON'T want anyone booking at 12:00 as this then straddles the two time slots and makes it so I can only see one client instead of two. I tried blocking off the 12:00 time to force people to book at only 11:30 or 12:30, but then the calendar shows 11:30 every day as unavailable because that only leaves a 30 minute spot at 11:30 and I want it to be a one hour spot. I also tried using a buffer zone after the appointment and that just made things show as unavailable again.

How can I only have 11:30 and only 12:30 show up as options for one hour appointments when I leave the 11:30 to 1:30 space open on my calendar?

I hope there is a solution!

Answer 1

Dear customer,

Thank you for letting me know and for your kind feedback. I'm glad to hear that you found a solution is working well for you, and I appreciate you taking the time to consider the additional options I provided. Hopefully, they might serve as useful alternatives for future reference or different scenarios.

Your understanding and appreciation mean a lot! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions or need assistance in the future. Also, if you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer.

This helps others in the community facing similar problems. Thanks for your understanding.

Kai-L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Hi, thank you for your solution. I did try to do it but found trying to use a shared booking page was difficult versus my personal booking page. I elected to just put an explanation in the booking link I provided to clients and asked them to only book on the half hour spots and not in the "on the on the hour" spots. I don't know if that will work but that is my solution for now. I found your explanation helpful and it was good to know my options in order to decide which solution would fit for me. Thank you!

Answer 3

Dear customer,

It has been a while and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue. Have you had a chance to check the replies provided? Any update would be appreciated.

Answer 4

Hi MJ CP,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you're facing a frustrating issue with Microsoft Bookings in Teams. This is a classic challenge: while Bookings offers great flexibility, it can sometimes work against very specific scheduling needs like yours. The core issue is that Bookings typically generates slots based on your "interval" setting and then checks your calendar for availability.

When you block 12:00 PM, Bookings interprets your 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM window as two separate, smaller segments:

• 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM (30 minutes)
• 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (90 minutes)

Since your appointments are 1 hour, the first segment (11:30 AM - 12:00 PM) isn't long enough, so it gets blocked. The second segment (12:00 PM - 1:30 PM) might then show 12:00 PM, 12:30 PM, etc., depending on your overall interval settings. Similarly, buffer zones add time around an appointment, further reducing the actual bookable time. For example, a 1-hour appointment with a 15-minute buffer would require 1 hour and 15 minutes of continuous free time.

The most reliable way to achieve your precise booking requirement is to create a separate service for each specific 1-hour slot you want to offer. This method requires you to be using a Shared Booking Page (not a Personal Booking Page), as the "Services" option is only available there.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Go to your Shared Bookings page in Teams or the Bookings web app (https://outlook.office.com/bookings/ or https://bookings.microsoft.com/).
2. In the left navigation pane, go to "Services."
3. Create your first service (e.g., "Consultation - 11:30 AM"):
   • Service Name: "Consultation - 11:30 AM" (or similar, make it clear to clients).
   • Duration: Set to "1 hour" (or 60 minutes).
   • Online Meeting: Ensure "Add online meeting" is toggled on if you want Teams meetings for these appointments.
   • Availability Options:
     • Crucially, change "General availability" from "Bookable when staff are free" to "Custom hours (recurring weekly)."
     • For each weekday (Monday-Friday), delete any existing time ranges.
     • Add only ONE specific time range: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM .
     • Make sure all other days/times are set to "Not bookable" or deleted.
     • Important: Under "Scheduling Policy" > "Time increments," ensure it's set to 60 minutes (or 1 hour). This ensures that even if you accidentally provide a slightly longer window, only 1-hour slots will be offered.
   • Assign yourself (the staff member) to this service.
   • Save the service.
4. Create your second service (e.g., "Consultation - 12:30 PM"):
   • Service Name: "Consultation - 12:30 PM"
   • Duration: Set to "1 hour" (or 60 minutes).
   • Online Meeting: Ensure "Add online meeting" is toggled on.
   • Availability Options:
     • Change "General availability" to "Custom hours (recurring weekly)."
     • For each weekday, delete any existing time ranges.
     • Add only ONE specific time range: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM.
     • Ensure all other days/times are set to "Not bookable" or deleted.
     • Important: Under "Scheduling Policy" > "Time increments," ensure it's set to 60 minutes (or 1 hour).
   • Assign yourself to this service.
   • Save the service.

Pros of this method:

• Precise Control: This gives you absolute control over the exact start times clients can book.
• Clear to Clients: Clients will see two distinct options, "Consultation - 11:30 AM" and "Consultation - 12:30 PM," making it very clear what they are booking.
• Avoids Overlapping: Since each service is tied to a specific time slot, there's no chance of an accidental 12:00 PM booking that messes up your flow.

Cons of this method:

• More Setup: You have to create multiple services for what might conceptually be the same type of appointment.
• Client Choice: Clients will have to choose between the two services on the booking page. This isn't a huge burden, but it's an extra click.
• Calendar View: Your personal Outlook/Teams calendar will reflect the specific events booked. For personal scheduling, consider blocking the 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM period as "busy" on your personal calendar to prevent other external invitations from conflicting.

I hope this information has clarified the issue and provides a workable solution for your specific booking needs. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're always here to help.

Kind regards,
Kai-L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist